Shell's Prelude FLNG Reaches Australian Waters

Shell Australia announced Monday that its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility has arrived in Australian waters.

Shell Australia Chairman Zoe Yujnovich said the arrival of the Prelude FLNG facility signaled a new era for the Australian LNG export industry. Yujnovich said Shell had awarded a majority of Prelude contracts to Australian contractors, including the contract awarded to Australian engineering company Monadelphous for maintenance and modification services, valued at $200 million.

Prelude is not the first FLNG to enter operation – that honor belongs to Petronas’ PFLNG Satu – but it is the first deployment of Shell’s own FLNG technology, and it is among the largest objects afloat, not far behind Allseas’Pioneering Spirit for displacement.

“Prelude is an Australian project and Shell has recognised how important it is to build strong partnerships with Australian industry,” she said, emphasizing that Prelude will create Australian jobs. “One hundred and fifty technicians have been trained across a broad range of critical skills, including helicopter landing and refuelling skills, rigging, scaffolding and first aid.” The Prelude project will employ 260 local workers on board the facility during operations and create over a 1500 jobs during the hook-up and commissioning phase of the project.

Samsung Heavy Industries’ yard in Geoje, South Korea, built the Prelude herself, but many of the other project components were locally sourced. As an example, Yujnovich said that West Australian construction company CIVMEC built the anchor piles for Prelude’s subsea flowlines.

The Prelude project is located about 250 nm north of Broome, Western Australia. Shell says that it expects to see cashflow from the facility beginning next year, a brief delay from an expected start in 2017.